


Sandalwood

by Deanon



Category: Free!
Genre: (kind of i guess), Alternate Universe - Splash Free, Alternate Universe - Stripper/Exotic Dancer, First Time, M/M, One Shot, Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-07 10:51:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1896312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deanon/pseuds/Deanon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Rei gets brought to a questionable establishment and has a questionable evening, and finds something wonderful for it.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>The dancer was <b>beautiful.</b> Rei didn’t know why he hadn’t expected that, but he hadn’t. </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Sandalwood

**Author's Note:**

> The million and first "Nagisa is some kind of prostitute and Rei is some kind of guard" AU, but let's be honest, you can never have too much of a very, very good thing. 
> 
> Beta'd by Mel.

Rei, he felt it should be noted, was no kind of expert on - establishments like this. He'd managed to avoid being dragged before now, and he was still regretting allowing himself to be dragged on that night. Discomfort had settled permanently into his skin, drawing his shoulders up and making him compulsively reach up to fix glasses that he didn't wear while on shift as a guard (usually. When he remembered to take them off.) The scent of incense in the corridor he was being led down was heavy in the air, settling heavy in Rei’s lungs, nearly choking him with its consistency. He drew in another breath, coughing slightly before a floating feeling settled into him.

“Are you alright, sir?” The girl escorting him murmured in his ear, making Rei jump and whirl to look at her. She kept her eyes respectfully down as she motioned him behind a curtain, but he thought he saw her lips twitch in the dim light of the passageway.

“I’m – uh – f-fine,” Rei said. He looked around at the passageway, lined in doorways covered by thin films. One of the curtains fluttered, and he got a quick glimpse of bare, undulating skin and the tinkling of decorated skirts – Rei snapped his eyes away, his eyes burning.

Towards the end of the hallway, Rei found himself being let into what appeared to be one of the larger rooms. He followed without thinking, but was inordinately relieved when the room proved to be empty. He had agreed to this, but he was almost regretting it now – his heart was already pounding and his head felt light, and nobody’d even looked directly at him yet.

The air was lighter behind the curtain, a little less stifling, and a lamp in the corner made the room a little brighter, although still dim. Rei took a deep breath, and his head cleared a little, although the embarrassment and discomfort remained.

“He will be with you shortly,” the girl said in his ear again (and he jumped, again). He turned to look at her, to question the barely-there note of amusement in her voice, but she was already ducking out of the room in a whirl of skirts and auburn hair with barely a whisper of sound.

“Wait,” Rei said to the curtain, “ _He_?”

The curtain fluttered, stubbornly refusing to respond.

* * *

 

Kou fell into step with Nagisa so fluidly that nobody except those who worked there would know it wasn’t planned. When the blond cast a quick glance up at her, she responded with a small smile and reached over to smoothly retrieve the tray with drinks on it from his hand. “Nagisa,” she murmured, “I need you.”

 “Aren’t you supposed to be dancing for the Sultan’s guard?” Nagisa murmured back. They ducked into the back room in a synchronized motion, and then Nagisa quickly blocked her path. “I saw you lead him off not two minutes ago. Was he really that fast?”

Kou stifled a giggle behind her hand, but amended quickly, “Of course not! I’m sure he’s – anyways, did you see where he was looking when we came through?” Nagisa shrugged. “Well, I’ll tell you where he wasn’t looking – at me.”

Nagisa went to grab one of the small sweets that lined the tray Kou was now holding, and Kou effortlessly swatted his hand away.  “Maybe he’s shy,” Nagisa said easily.

“Well,” Kou said. “Probably, but – just trust me on this one, ok?”

Eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion, Nagisa said, “Trust you on what?”

Kou glanced significantly at the curtain leading out to the main room, and past that, to the ‘private’ rooms. “I have a sense for when I’m not the one that’s wanted, Nagisa.”

Nagisa narrowed his eyes. “You sure? You know it’s better if they ask for me first,” he said, making another reach for the sweets.

Kou effortlessly batted his hand aside again, and then seemed to reconsider and snatched up a sweet between her fingertips, sticking it between Nagisa’s lips. His eyes went wide with pleasure, taking a moment to savor the salty-sweet taste of the treat. “Consider this a request, then,” Kou said. “ _Trust_ me. If he sends you back, I’ll – I’ll get you a whole bag of these,” she threw out, even though the sweets were expensive and generally carefully tracked, especially around Nagisa.

Nagisa eyed her, determining her sincerity, and then said, “Deal.” He directed her to the table the drinks were going to – a group of regulars who weren’t usually too rowdy – and got directed to the guard’s room in exchange.

“Oh, and Nagisa,” Kou said, right before he left. Nagisa turned, halfway through the curtain back into the main room. “Be gentle with him. I think it’s his first time here.”

Nagisa’s smile ticked up a touch more towards something really genuine, and Kou was reminded why he was popular enough to compete with even the best of their female dancers. “I always am,” he teased, and left the room with a twitch of his hips.

* * *

 

Rei had settled himself onto the pile of pillows in the room after looking around and finding that there was not much in it – the room was carpeted, a rare luxury, and there were a few sticks of incense smoking very lightly in the corner, but otherwise the only features were the lamp and the pillows. It seemed strange how long the hostess had been gone, but truth be told, Rei was a little relieved for the moments alone. He controlled his breathing, bringing his heart rate down and concentrating on the warm temperature in the room and the faintly audible music. His embarrassment slowly drained away, replaced by almost relaxation. The atmosphere in the room was nice, a welcome break from the overwhelming main room or the stifling halls.

He closed his eyes, and didn’t open them again until a soft voice said, from inside the room, “Aww, did we put you to sleep already?”

Rei sat straight up, nearly toppling out of the pile of pillows, and his eyes shot open as he stammered, “Ah, no, of course not, my apologies, I –"

He stopped short at the sound of soft laughter, and finally took in the presence of the other person in the room. The dancer, as he’d suspected, was a boy, but Rei still found his breath coming a little short at the sight of him. He was short – although it was hard to tell how short from Rei’s low angle – and blond, with sweetly effeminate features and obvious hips. He was draped in loose fabric and decorations, and he was laughing behind his hand at Rei.

“I’m,” Rei said, faintly. “Ah.”

The dancer was _beautiful_. Rei didn’t know why he hadn’t expected that, but he hadn’t.

“I owe Gou,” the dancer said, which made no sense, and then, “Hi there. Sorry for startling you.” He approached Rei slowly, and Rei found his eyes drawn against his will to the deliberate way his hips swayed with every step. The boy placed two hands on Rei’s shoulders, and pushed him gently back into the cushions, which Rei went with on instinct. Once Rei was settled, the dancer leaned back, looking pleased with himself. Rei thought that he liked seeing this person _smile_ , and then felt a little strange about that, because when the other guards talked about this particular house, they didn’t talk about the dancer’s _smiles_.

Then again, Rei thought, eyes tracing the flat lines of the dancer’s chest, they also usually talked about women.

The dancer gave a little twirl, that mischievous smile still focused on Rei, before going over and sliding something on the wall. The music suddenly became much more audible, and Rei took a moment to wonder about it – some kind of system of tubes within the walls? How was it designed? – before the dancer’s hips started swaying.

He didn’t face Rei right away, or even move much. His hips swayed slightly with the beat, a barely detectable movement that was all the more mesmerizing for that, forcing Rei to concentrate on him for fear of missing something.

Moving his hips in slow circles, the dancer made his way back to Rei. He slowly began to sway more, putting in tiny, fascinating ticks into the sway of his hips in time with the music. He looked up through his lashes at Rei, who suddenly realized that he was _watching him dance_. Horrified and embarrassed, heart pounding, Rei tore his eyes away and stared at the lamp in the corner.

There was a soft hum from the dancer, and then he was much closer to Rei. “Hey, hey, look at me,” the dancer laughed, leaning down and tilting Rei’s head towards his so that Rei had no choice to look at him. Rei’s eyes shifted uncomfortably for a moment, skipping over the dancer’s chest and the dot of sweat on his throat before deciding that his eyes were the safest bet. Even then, his stomach squirmed.

“Are you really that embarrassed?” The blond asked, now that he had Rei’s attention back. This close, he smelled like some kind of spiced oil, and, beneath that, a faintly masculine smell of sweat. The combination burned in Rei’s nose, made his skin feel too tight and hot. “Gou seemed pretty confident about you, but – “

“I just – “ Rei started, although now he was curious what it was that ‘Gou’ was so confident about. The dancer jumped a little at the sound of his voice, though, and focused Rei with his full attention. “I’ve never, uh, been somewhere like here before, and I’m not sure what the proper etiquette and – and customs – “ Tiny giggles were coming from the boy again, and this close Rei could see that his eyes _shone_ when he laughed, his whole face becoming even softer and sweeter. “Why are you laughing at me?”

“You’re so _cute_!” The dancer gasped, seeming to give into laughter and hiding it behind his hand. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, you’re – it’s just, nobody comes in here asking me about _etiquette_ ,” he continued, his voice warm.

“Etiquette is extremely important in every situation, I can’t imagine that _everyone_ who comes in here – “ Rei was cut off by a finger being placed gently on his lips, and he continued to speak against it for a moment, “is a – ah – oh.” The skin against his lips was soft, and warm, and when Rei spoke against it he could almost taste it. The sensation sent shivers down his spine and derailed his train of thought. Judging by the mischievous smile on the dancer’s face, he knew it, too.

“Don’t worry about etiquette right now!” The blond smiled again, genuinely. “Just relax and enjoy it, okay?”

Rei shifted in his seat, uncomfortable even though the dancer was _clearly_ ok with the situation. “But – what if I – how can I – I don’t even know your _name_ ,” he settled on.

“Nagisa.”

“What?” Rei blinked at him. Had he done something wrong? Was the dancer going to go get a female dancer now, to make her deal with him instead? Rei felt an unexpected jolt of disappointment at the thought.

“My name,” the dancer said, giggling again. “It’s Nagisa.”

Something in Rei that he hadn’t been aware was tense relaxed, all at once. When Nagisa pushed him back into the cushions again, he went, almost boneless. “Oh.” They watched each other for a moment, before he added, feeling rude and strangely shy, “I’m Rei.”

Flashing Rei another beaming smile that made a warm feeling spread through Rei’s stomach, Nagisa began dancing again.

Heat flashed through Rei’s stomach again almost immediately, but his forced his eyes to stay on Nagisa, to appreciate the show that he was putting on for Rei. Under Rei’s eyes, Nagisa’s movements got more dramatic, more fluid, falling fully into the rhythm of the music.

A part of Rei’s mind was tracking the muscle movements that Nagisa was using to dance, the way he was able to isolate specific groups to make his hips move in such a fluid way. The grace of it, the motion created, was completely mesmerizing. Rei couldn’t look away. Nagisa’s form was incredible, every motion looking intentional and controlled. He’d seen many fighters with less precise control over their bodies. It was… beautiful to watch.

“Thank you,” Nagisa said, laughing, and Rei jumped, realizing that he’d spoken some of that out loud, very softly. Nagisa’s hazel eyes were shining again, and it curbed Rei’s embarrassment to see how genuinely pleased he was. “But if you’re still concentrating on things like that, I don’t think I’ve done my job yet!”

“Things like what?” Rei asked. Nagisa hadn’t stopped moving, his hips moving in a simple roll to the beat that almost seemed automatic for the boy.

Nagisa smiled, and there was mischief in it that gave Rei a vague sense of foreboding. He didn’t know this boy at all, but he felt like he _knew_ that smile, could feel the trouble coming from a mile away. “I’m glad you like my dancing,” Nagisa enthused, and then fell back into the music, rolling his head back, looking lost in it.

He swirled around again, not appearing to do much different, but then, just as Rei was starting to relax and enjoy the performance, Nagisa began to pull off the jacket covering his shoulders in slow, intentional stages.

Of course. This was… that type of establishment. How had he forgotten? Nagisa seemed… not innocent, of course, but so sweet, simultaneously making Rei uncomfortable and at ease, that he’d forgotten how this was likely to end. Rei felt his face heat up and his heart pound again, and he nearly averted his eyes. At the last moment, though, Nagisa stopped looking up through his lashes and met Rei’s eyes head-on, throwing him a quick wink.

Rei couldn’t for the life of him explain why that made him more comfortable, but it did. His shoulder relaxed again, even if he couldn’t quite bring himself to look down at Nagisa’s now-bare shoulders.

“It’s ok if you look, you know,” Nagisa said. He swayed his hips again, causing Rei to look down at them, and then held his attention there by slowly playing his fingers along the waistband of his pants. “I really don’t mind.” He sounded amused at having to say this, and Rei knew enough about… Nagisa’s job… to know that this wasn’t how this usually went. He felt embarrassed, again.

“You must have people looking at you all the time,” Rei said, and he wasn’t sure why he said that. The words sounded accusative, but his tone came out almost… disgruntled? “Don’t you get tired of it?”

“No.” Rei blinked at the simple word, startled into looking up at Nagisa. Seemingly pleased with getting Rei’s attention back, he stepped into a long stretch in time with the music, forcing Rei’s eyes to follow the arched line of his body. Rei’s skin felt tight again. “I like it. Especially the ones like you.”

“Like… me?” Rei mumbled, hypnotized. The curve that formed from Nagisa’s hip, to his waist, up his chest, around his neck, was so graceful that he couldn’t take his eyes off of it. He wondered whether Nagisa’s body was formed in perfect ratios. He wondered what his skin tasted like. It was possible that he was being affected more than he’d anticipated.

All at once, Nagisa was closer, almost falling out of time with the music – which had slowed down – in order to be closer to Rei. “Ones where I know they’re thinking about nothing,” Nagisa breathed, moving in so close to Rei that he could see flecks of – _pink?_ – in his eyes, “except me.”

It took Rei three full seconds to process the words that Nagisa had said, rather than the deep, teasing tone he’d said them in. “That’s…” He fumbled for a word. He was staring at Nagisa’s lips. “Greedy.”

Nagisa laughed a little, and it was even better this close to him. Rei could feel the soft exhalation of breath, see the way the laugh built up in Nagisa’s throat first. “Maybe!” His voice was still soft, if excited, pitched to fill the space between them. He stared up at Rei, and then slowly shifted down so he was crouched enough to be level with Rei’s eyes, rather than leaning over him. He gave his mischievous smile again. “Or maybe I just know what I want.”

“O – oh?” Rei coughed, and then swallowed, unable to look away, unable to find anything in his field of vision that wasn’t Nagisa. “And – and that – is?”

Slowly, Nagisa leaned forward again, now so close to Rei that he had to lean a hand on the cushions to keep his balance and stop himself from falling into Rei’s lap. Thoughts tumbled over each other in Rei’s mind, crowded by attraction and embarrassment and, yes, arousal, and not a small amount of confusion.  “You know,” Nagisa murmured, ignoring Rei’s question. “We’re not _really_ supposed to touch the customers, unless they’re paying for that. You know. Officially.”

Disappointment curled in Rei’s stomach, and he _immediately_ felt like a terrible human being for that. He swallowed it down. He didn’t _want_ to pay Nagisa for that – or have his friends pay Nagisa for that, or anything like that.

“But,” Nagisa continued, and Rei’s eyes snapped up from where they’d been tracing over what of Nagisa’s collar bones and chest he could see from where he was.  “You know, I won’t tell anybody I made an exception if you don’t.”

That sounded like a terrible idea, and definitely against the rules. Could they get thrown out? Could Nagisa lose his job here? He seemed to enjoy it a lot, even if it was… unorthodox. Why would he - ?

Rei meant to ask all these questions, but then Nagisa reached forward with the hand that wasn’t supporting him, and ran it through Rei’s hair. Immediately, sparks of pleasure ran down Rei’s scalp, through his spine, making his whole body shudder. He leaned into Nagisa without meaning to, and all that survived of his questions was a soft, “Nagisa - ?”

A noise of surprised pleasure came from Nagisa, and before Rei could fully register what was happening, Nagisa had leaned forward the rest of the distance between them and was kissing him.

Nagisa didn’t bother moving slowly, and Rei was pulled along for the ride. Nagisa’s hand twisted in Rei’s hair, and Rei’s mouth fell open of its own accord as another full-body shiver ran through him. He felt Nagisa laugh into his mouth and decided that, this, this was the best way of experiencing Nagisa’s laughter, so close to him that he could feel the echoes of it in his own body.

Nagisa kissed with enthusiasm and energy, with so much personality that Rei felt swept away by it. Quick movements of Nagisa’s tongue overwhelmed him, drove him to distraction, made him struggle to keep up as he tried to coax Nagisa into going back and repeating an action, a movement, so that he could dissect the exact sensation. He wanted to memorize this. He’d kissed other people, had lovers before, but he’d never experienced anything like _this_.

He was drowning in Nagisa. He _wanted_ to drown in Nagisa.

When his hand reached up and rested, hesitant, on Nagisa’s bare waist, Nagisa made a sound so gleeful that Rei almost entirely pulled away in confusion. He found that he _couldn’t_ , though, because Nagisa flung himself bodily into Rei’s lap, straddling the taller boy in and easy movement and knocking their teeth together in the process.

“You’re so cute,” Nagisa mumbled into his mouth, smiling into the kiss. He still had a hand in Rei’s hair and had settled himself firmly into Rei’s lap, and the fabric of his pants was so thin that Rei could feel the warmth of Nagisa’s skin intimately through it. When Nagisa ground down, he could feel _other_ things intimately, too, and he’d gasped out loud before he realized what he was doing.

“Is this – “ Rei was interrupted by another kiss, but he tried to speak through it, nearly biting Nagisa’s lip in the process, “inappropriate?”

Pulling back slightly, Nagisa hummed softly. “Kind of? Maybe? I think my boss would just be mad that you didn’t pay.”

Shame coiled in Rei’s stomach, hot and tight. Did Nagisa expect him to pay? Did he want to? He wanted Nagisa – he _desperately_ wanted Nagisa, he was nearly frightened by the intensity of it – but he wasn’t sure if he wanted him like _that_.

But would he rather not have him at all?

“ _Oh_ ,” Nagisa said, and then, to Rei’s shock, he laughed and leaned forward to kiss Rei again. It was softer, warmer, and Rei melted into it again without meaning to do so. “I’m not going to ask you to pay. I wouldn’t want you to.” He was smiling as he said it, so close that Rei couldn’t bring his face entirely into focus. “This is just for fun.”

“Just for… ah,” Rei said. His relief faded into hazy pleasure as Nagisa shifted his hips town again, causing both of their foreheads to lean together. He could feel Nagisa’s length pressing against his stomach like this, hot and rapidly hardening, and it made his whole head feel warm and cloudy.

Another shift of Nagisa’s hips had them both breathing harder. The dancer made a small noise of pleasure, leaning down to kiss Rei as his hips built up a slow, steady rhythm.

Rei’s hands shifted restlessly on Nagisa’s waist, wanting to pull him more firmly down into his lap, but still hesitant. “Nagisa,” he murmured, running his hands up and down Nagisa’s waist, savoring the goosebumps that he raised there despite the overly-warm air in the room. “You are sure you won’t get in trouble?”

A whine formed low in Nagisa’s throat at Rei’s continuing objections. “ _Yes_ ,” Nagisa insisted. “But if it makes you so nervous – “

Nagisa sat up, separating himself from Rei, and the sense of loss and, well, panic that shot through Rei was embarrassing in its intensity. “Wait,” Rei said. “I mean, it does make me nervous, but it doesn’t —“ _I’m willing to risk it_ , he wanted to say, and couldn’t, because it wasn’t _his_ job at risk here.

“Shhh,” Nagisa said. He was still leaning over Rei, still close enough that the overwhelming warmth of him was seeping into Rei’s skin. He placed a finger over Rei’s mouth, and then used that finger to stroke at Rei’s lips, like an indirect kiss. It tingled. Rei shut up. “So you’re right, we’re not technically supposed to touch each other.” Oh. Rei opened his mouth to respond – _it’s ok, I understand, I’m a guard, I know how important these rules are_ , even if he had never wanted to _touch_ somebody as much as he wanted to touch Nagisa. The finger on his lips, though, pressed down, and Rei was forced to close his mouth again. “But,” Nagisa continued. “There are no rules at all about us touching ourselves.”

“Oh,” Rei murmured, against Nagisa’s finger. Slowly, the finger pressed into Rei’s mouth, and he accepted it in. Nagisa’s eyes went wide, as though he hadn’t quite expected that, and the conversation got derailed for a moment while Nagisa’s finger pressed against his tongue. Experimentally, Rei swirled his tongue around it, picking up the taste of salt and oil and something faintly rich and sweet, like candy. It tasted good, and it made Nagisa’s eyelashes flutter and his breathe come in a little unsteady, so he did it again.

“Oh,” Nagisa echoed him, looking foggy as he drew his finger out of Rei’s mouth and traced it on his lips again. “Uh. So. We could.” He seemed to come back to himself a little, and drew the hand away from Rei’s face – he ignored the sense of loss – to trace down his neck, shoulder, arm. Delicate fingers grabbed Rei’s wrist from where it had landed on the pillows and, slowly, teasingly, drew Rei’s hand across his own abdomen, down his body. He let go with Rei’s hand just inches from where his cock was _pulsing_ , and Rei gasped in a breath he hadn’t realized he’s been holding.

Nagisa’s hand came back up and rested next to Rei’s head. He’d raised himself up so that no part of him was touching Rei anymore, but the result was that it felt like electricity was humming between them, like lightning waiting to leap between two clouds. The air in Rei’s lungs felt too thick. “Only if you want,” Nagisa murmured down to him. His eyes had gone dark, still playful but with blown pupils and heavy eyelids. Expected symptoms of phsyical arousal, Rei thought, and also, _fuck_.

“If,” Rei said, but it came out just a breath. He felt an answering gust from Nagisa, and it was so hard to concentrate when he wanted to kiss him so _badly_. “If I want?”

Unexpectedly, Nagisa laughed at him. His forehead came down to rest next to Rei’s head, bending their bodies so close that Rei could _feel_ the sparks and had to hold his breathe and count to keep from arching up into him. “You’re _so_ – “ Nagisa breathed, in his ear, and something about his tone made Rei’s stomach twist. He couldn’t work out if that was good or bad or something else before Nagisa had raised himself back up to hover over Rei again, just-barely-not-touching. His eyes had gone entirely dark and mischievous. 

"Touch yourself, Rei. Please. I want to watch you.”

Rei’s head pressed back into the pillows, his eyes clenching shut, the words rocking through him like a physical touch. He heard himself gasp like it was somebody else, and it was part embarrassment and part _burning_ desire.

 _Are you sure_ , he wanted to ask again, but he really didn’t have to because nobody has ever looked at him the way Nagisa was, sweet and playful even now and as though he wanted to eat Rei _whole_ , and he didn’t know how to respond except by giving him exactly what he wanted.

He had a vague premonition that he could happily spend a lot of time giving Nagisa exactly what he wants.

Hand shaking but sure, he slid it down the last few inches to press down over his cock through his pants, letting out a low hiss at the relief-torment that the pressure provided. He slid his hand down again, with more purpose, and it was _Nagisa_ that let out a strangled noise that time, something  bordering on a sob.

Overcome partially by instinct and partially by complete desperation, Rei undid the ties on his pants with one hand and pushed them down. Nagisa’s hand fluttered down to help and Rei batted it away, looking up to catch Nagisa’s eyes. More sparks sang through him and he felt his cock twitch, from a _look_ , fuck. “No touching, remember?”

Nagisa stared at him as though he couldn’t quite remember how words worked. “Right,” he said, sounding _wrecked_.

Rei didn’t have to look down to settle a hand around himself, but Nagisa seemed almost compelled to look even when Rei wasn’t. His eyes dragged down Rei’s torso and settled on the movement of his hand, his breath in time with Rei’s as it sped up. Embarrassment tugged at Rei, almost enough to be felt over the arousal, and his hand slowed down.

“Noooo,” Nagisa moaned, and looked up at Rei, wide eyed and pouting. “No, you’re so good, keep going.”

“I know,” Rei said, and holy shit, his voice was gone too, and Nagisa’s eyes went a little wider and snapped to Rei’s throat as he tried again. “I know – I mean, I think it would be more, more mutually satisfactory, if you,” and Nagisa was looking at him again, and he might have been embarrassed but everything was kind of registering as sexy and the heat in his face just joined the heat _everywhere_ , burning him up. “If you, also.”

Shock crossed Nagisa’s face, and then he dropped down, even closer to Rei, their skin millimeters apart in places. Every place where they were almost touching was like having magnets under his skin, like planets in orbit, a greater force the closer they are, and this was torture. Rei hadn’t known it was possible to want to kiss someone like this, like a physical ache that was centered more in his chest than his cock. (He realized, abruptly, that his hand was moving again, without his permission.)

“Are you asking me,” Nagisa breathed against his lips, “to touch myself for you?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Rei hissed, all shame gone, and it was Nagisa who gasped and overbalanced a little as his hand flew down, tugging at the loose waistband of his pants.

His overbalance brought him down on one arm, next to Rei, and he was still playing the game in that they weren’t touching but he was panting in Rei’s ear and that was almost _worse_. There were fierce lines of heat going from the top of his head to his cock, in time with his rapid pulse, all his thoughts starting to blur as his hand started moving faster. He got the vague sense of movement near his hand and he looked down, the angle bad because Nagisa was nearly on top of him but he could see the motion of his arm, steady and in time with Nagisa’s little gasps that burn at his ear.

He matched the pace and the heat grew, because it was so easy to imagine, like this, that it was Nagisa’s hand. Nagisa’s hand stroking him, Nagisa’s breath in his ear, Nagisa’s scent everywhere, Nagisa’s rough voice, “God, Rei, I want to kiss you so much – “

“Nagisa,” he gasped, and Nagisa _arched_ and their skin came in contact all down their bodies, like bright lights going off behind his eyes , like supernovas bursting. He was coming before he realized what was happening, shaking and falling apart and gasping Nagisa’s name again and again.

Aftershocks rocked through his brain in bursts of light and his rhythm faltered, and so did Nagisa’s, and that was when Rei tuned into Nagisa’s voice again. “Rei,” he chanted in Rei’s ear. “Rei, Rei, you’re.”

“I’m here,” Rei said, and it sounded ridiculous and he’d come down enough to know it sounded ridiculous but Nagisa echoed it with another gasp. “I’m here,” he said again, and Nagisa whispered back, _yeah, yeah_.

A half a second later Nagisa shifted, the arm that had been resting next to Rei pushing him up as Nagisa said, vaguely, “Want to – _oh_.”

Nagisa was _gorgeous_ , sitting up so that his thighs – toned from dancing – were holding him above Rei, in full view. His chest was flushed and bared, his hair messed, his eyes blurry and fixed on Rei, his cock red and dripping and Rei realized, with another electric shock through him, that it was the first time he’d seen it. He wanted to touch it. He wanted to touch _all_ of Nagisa, all over, until he had him memorized, and then he wanted to review it again.

“Want to touch you,” Nagisa gasped as his rhythm picked up again. “Want to – god, Rei, you’re so – “ He was forcing words out around labored breaths, and even though it was too soon, helpless arousal curled through Rei. He clenched and unclenched his hands to keep from reaching up and touching, and instead he _drank_ in the sight of Nagisa above him. “You’re so sweet,” Nagisa choked out, and then, unexpectedly, giggled breathlessly.

“What?”

Nagisa’s eyes clenched shut and then he visibly forced them open again, tracing them down Rei’s body. “You were definitely worth a whole bag of candy,” Nagisa said, nonsensically, and Rei laughed at him, just a breath. A whole body shiver goes through Nagisa as his rhythm faltered, and then he said, “Sorry, sorry, I just, I _have_ to,” and he leaned down and kissed Rei in a way that was mostly breath and wetness and heat. Rei could feel his every movement, feel how frantic he was, slipped his tongue against Nagisa’s lips because he couldn’t _not_. Against them he caught this little _sound_ Nagisa made, half-sob and half-laugh, and then he was coming, spilling searing heat all over Rei’s chest and stomach, and god, god, every deity he knew, this was. This was.

“Wow,” Nagisa breathed into his mouth after a long moment, and yeah.

Yeah.

* * *

 

They lay there recovering for a while, breathing into each other. Senses came back to Rei slowly – awareness of the scent of incense hanging heavy in the air, the heavy music that still flowed through the room, the heat that prickled at his cooling skin. Finally, his sense of propriety started to return too, and he cringed.

“You should get up,” he said, not without hesitancy. “This is – “ the most pleasant place he had been in in years, “highly inappropriate.”

Nagisa sighed, a full-body thing that had Rei sighing sympathetically. He drew himself up, his dancer’s grace returning to him with the fluid motion. He fixed up his pants and cleaned himself up as best he could before looking down at Rei, who suddenly realized he was still disheveled, and offered him a small smile.

Rei returned it, butterflies in his stomach again, and the smile turned _genuine_ , which only made them worse. Nagisa’s real smiles were all in his eyes, bright and wide and sweeping down Rei until he scrambled to fix himself up as well.

The room got quieter and Nagisa cleared it up and Rei attempted, mostly in vain, to make himself look more presentable. There were – fluids – staining his shirt and pants, and he didn’t want to wipe them on the gorgeous, elaborate cushions, but he wasn’t sure what else to do.

“Here,” Nagisa said, from directly above him, and Rei’s head snapped up. With slow, deliberate movements – not seductive, quite, more comfortable – Nagisa knelt down and swiped a warm cloth over his chest and stomach. It tickled, and felt intimate in a way that made Rei’s chest ache a little. After finishing, Nagisa tossed the rag aside and leaned in, pulling Rei in by a hand wrapped around the back of his neck. The kiss was languid, unhurried, and Rei said into it, “Shouldn’t we – “

“Shhh,” Nagisa said against his lips. “Shh.” He kissed him again and Rei _melted_ into it, all the tension gone from him all at once.

“I want to see you again,” Nagisa whispered, blunt, once the kiss broke. “Can I see you again? Tonight, even?”

“You do?” Rei said, still stuck on the first part. He opened his eyes (when had they closed?) to look at Nagisa, who looked serious. “I mean – you – _why?_ ” And maybe that was a stupid question to ask, but this – all of this –

It didn’t seem real, entirely, a smoky room covered in silks and opulence, and a gorgeous dancer who could talk him into anything with a glance. It seemed impossible, and he couldn’t imagine Nagisa outside this room.

“ _Why_?” Nagisa sounded a little hurt, but his hand was still wrapped around the back of Rei’s neck. “Rei – you’re _beautiful_.”

All the breath left Rei’s body, all at once. He started up at Nagisa, who stared back seriously for a moment before his face broke into a full smile.

He couldn’t imagine Nagisa outside this room, outside this room _wanting him_ , but Rei wanted, very suddenly, to try anyways.

“I don’t have a shift tomorrow night,” he said, and tomorrow night had never seemed quite so far away. “I can come back then.”

Nagisa’s smile took over his whole face, and then he _laughed_ , too, bright and joyful and at nothing at all, and Rei felt his face burning at the sound. “Good. Come back, hm, four hours before sunrise, at the west door in the alley.”

“What?” Rei blinked at him, and Nagisa beamed even broader.

“What? You didn’t think I’d make you pay again, did you? I’ll even dance for you, if you want.” He leaned in again. “But first you have to walk me home.”

Rei cannot draw enough air into his lungs. “That is - acceptable.”

Huffing out another laugh at him, Nagisa brushed a kiss, slow and deliberate, to the corner of his lips. With the contact still tingling, Nagisa stood up and, in a whisper of fabric and softly clinking coins, was gone.

He’d been gone nearly a minute before Rei realized two things. One, he’d been smiling so broadly at the curtain this entire time that it was starting to hurt.

And two, that one of the scarves around his belt – not valuable, but the deep purple that he loved best – was missing, and a tiny coin-scarf like the ones the dancers wore was resting in its place.

* * *

 

 

Kou caught Nagisa in the backroom, leaning against a wall, smiling, clearly dazed and distracted. His hair and clothes were in a telltale disarray, and he hadn’t even made a move for the candies waiting to be brought out to customers.

“Hah!” Her noise of triumph brought Nagisa’s eyes to her, but she just grinned wider. She shifted the tray she was holding to her other hand and swept her eyes over him, taking in his disheveled clothes, his flushed cheeks. “Wait, did you _really_ – “

“Shhhhh,” Nagisa said urgently, and Kou’s mouth snapped shut. Her eyes were wide at him, though, and got wider when Nagisa’s smile slipped into something that was almost – _shy_.

Nagisa didn’t _do_ shy.

“You so owe me,” Kou said, and didn’t add, yet, _so you’re going to tell me exactly what happened to make you look love a lovestruck sop as soon as you get the chance_.

“Yeah,” Nagisa said, and Kou caught the movement of his fingers, worrying a scarf that had been tied into his belt that she was sure hadn’t been there before. The smile on Nagisa’s face was dazed, and delighted, and Kou would be worried if he didn’t look so – _sure_. “You know, I kind of actually do.”

Kou laughed a little and tossed her hair, but she had customers waiting on her, and as fun as this all was, it was pretty obvious that Nagisa wasn’t going to be useful for a while. “Just,” she said, before she passed by him. She waited until he met her eyes. “He’s worth all this, right?”

It was a testament to their friendship that the question didn’t need more clarification.

“Yeah,” Nagisa said, and his smile answered the question more than his words could. “Yeah, he’s _really_ – yeah.”

Kou watched him for a moment more, and then, smoothly reached down, picked up a candy, and fed it to him, all in one practiced motion.  Nagisa accepted it, eyes wide, and then, inexplicably – started laughing.

When he got his breath back, he looked up at Kou, eyes shining and wide, all but glowing. “He’s worth it.”


End file.
